Goodbye to NFL: Cowboys legend returns for emotional send off

Tyron Smith didn’t finish his 14-year NFL career with the Cowboys – but he will retire as one. The veteran left tackle, who played all but one season in Dallas, will sign a ceremonial one-day contract to formally retire as a member of the franchise.

According to NFL Network, the farewell ceremony will be held Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET at the Cowboys’ facility in Frisco, Texas.

Smith was selected by the Cowboys with the ninth overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft and anchored the offensive line in Arlington for more than a decade. His lone season away from the team came in 2024, when he suited up for the New York Jets.

Smith’s career shaped by greatness... and injury

Injuries marred the second half of Smith’s career, limiting his availability from 2015 onward. In 2020, he appeared in just two games due to a neck injury, and in 2022, he played only four games after suffering an avulsion fracture of the hamstring tendons at the proximal tibial epiphysis.

Despite the setbacks, Smith’s impact was undeniable. A cornerstone of Dallas’s offensive line throughout the 2010s, he earned his place among the league’s elite.

A Hall of Fame-caliber résumé

Smith’s list of honors speaks for itself. A product of USC, he was named to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was a two-time first-team All-Pro (2014, 2016), a three-time second-team All-Pro (2013, 2015, 2023), and was selected to the Pro Bowl eight times.

He started all 171 regular-season games he played in over his career, a testament to his reliability and dominance when healthy.

Now, Smith will say goodbye on his terms – and where it all began.

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